Proofpoint launches new SMB focused security awareness training

Proofpoint has launched security awareness training for small to medium businesses (SMBs) with the aim of reducing successful phishing attacks and malware infections to almost zero.

The Proofpoint Essentials Security Awareness solution helps businesses identify top risks through realistic threat simulations and deliver targeted, enterprise-level user education.

Backed by Proofpoint's threat intelligence, this solution educates SMB employees with training to ensure they know what to do when faced with a real threat, the company states.

Available now through select partners and resellers, the Proofpoint Essentials Security Awareness solution is part of the streamlined, multi-tenant Proofpoint Essentials platform.

This solution is also specifically designed for SMBs. The education approach provides consistent trainings in 40 different languages, all between five and 15 minutes, that can be taken anytime, anywhere, on any connected device, the company states.

Proofpoint's content library of interactive and game-based training modules covers all of the latest threat trends in detail.

According to the company, SMBs can also use the Proofpoint Essentials Security Awareness ThreatSim Phishing Simulations to understand their employees' susceptibility to a variety of phishing and spear-phishing attacks.

Powered by Proofpoint threat intelligence, thousands of different templates provide user assessments across multiple different threat types, including malicious attachments, unsafe URLs, and requests for personal data.

In addition to this, reports provide SMBs with added visibility into user vulnerability and behavior to understand progress.

Proofpoint senior vice president and general manager of Security Awareness Training Alan LeFort commented on the announcement, highlighting that the new solution can reduce attacks by a significant amount.

He says, "A vast majority of cyberattacks require human interaction to activate - and it's imperative that security awareness training is part of any SMB security strategy.

"In fact, we've found that our targeted education programs can reduce successful phishing attacks and malware infections by up to 90%."

LeFort says, "We turn SMB end users into a strong last line of defense with our people-centric approach that identifies risky employees and changes behavior while also minimising user downtime.

"Proofpoint Essentials Security Awareness helps SMBs easily show employees how to stop opening the door to threats.

Proofpoint is a cybersecurity company that is focused on protecting organisations' people, including compliance solutions that mitigate their most critical risks across email, the cloud, social media and the web.

With an integrated suite of cloud-based solutions, Proofpoint helps companies around the world stop targeted threats, safeguard their data, and make their users more resilient against cyber attacks.